Daisy Chains
by amgglekim
Summary: A one shot showing the far reaching affects of drunk driving. Jasper's POV. Dedicated to the memory of Fan-Fiction author Daddy's Little Cannibal


This story is dedicated to the memory of Daddy's Little Cannibal. For those of you who don't know, DLC was killed on Friday night in a Drunk driving accident. Personally I know that there are many among us who have personal experience with this type of tragedy, more than you would think.

Please always remember, someone is killed by a drunk driver every 15 minutes in this country. Every 15 minutes. So in the time it takes you to watch a movie, 4 or more people were killed. In the time it takes you to fulfill a work day, 28 people have been ripped from their families. That's 48 people in just the space of a day. Keep DLC's memory close to your hearts, let her death remind you to call a cab, call your parents, call someone. Please... don't drink and drive.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to Stephanie Meyer and the memory of our own Stephanie.

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JPOV

I didn't need to be an empath to know the guilt and pain that was filling her heart as I sat and watched her in front of the gravestone, the dozens upon dozens of brightly colored daisies she had brought with her being tied into a bright daisy chain, almost as if the brightly colored blooms could erase the harsh reality we were all trying to face.

"Please darlin'," I pleaded with her, "C'mon. You couldn't have done a thing."

"Stop that. Don't treat me like I'm made of glass," she replied, a slight snarl in her voice that would be undetected by any humans in the area. "I should have seen it coming. I could have stopped it."

I sat beside her, the wet ground staining my clothing, but my only concern was for the woman in front of me.

"Alice, don't say that. You can't see everything. This was not a decision that she made, there wasn't anything that you even could see until that light changed. Accidents simply happen. You need to accept that."

"I can't Jasper, I simply can't. She was my _friend_, how can I not accept the blame for this?"

I held my wife as she sobbed over the grave of her friend and confidant. Not since Bella had first come into our lives had I seen Alice get so attached to a human, but then again Steph had been her singer, a small missing piece of her soul; and while their relationship was never a romantic one, and Alice had never struggled the way Edward had with the choice between leaving Stephanie human or making her a vampire, it didn't change the heartbreak my pixie-like wife held in her heart.

"What if I hadn't decided Jasper? Did I do this because I was so set against her ever knowing for sure what we were? Because we were leaving?"

I knew in my heart that there were no words that could dissuade my Alice from her train of thought… and while it was true that the accident had happened after Steph had left our home… I firmly believed that there was no way this was Alice's fault. After all, vampires don't drink and she certainly wasn't the one who ran the red light.

We sat together in front of the simple granite memorial that marked the life of a daughter, a sister, a friend to many, an acquaintance to more, and I couldn't help but think of how many lives she had touched. How many people she had smile, laugh and cry in her short lifetime. I thought of her parents, and it was as if someone had stabbed me in the heart. I may not be a parent, but no one should ever have to bury a child and the thought brought my mind to Reneseme. She was grown and married to Jake now, but we could have lost her just as easily as Stephanie's parents had lost her. I thought of her twin sister and felt even more pain; how that unique bond between twins was not unlike the bond between mates in our world and how shattered and broken her sister must feel. I thought of her friends and only hoped that it would bring a lesson to them to be smarter in the choices they made in the years to come than the driver of that other car had been. I knew Steph had written Fan-Fiction and knew she was an excellent writer, and that made me think of how many lives she touched through her stories… people that she didn't even know, that she may not have even realized she made an impact on their lives. I wondered if they mourned her loss as well and then realized the stupidity of that thought. Of course they did. Anyone who knew her, in any capacity, would mourn the loss of such an inquisitive nature and brimming imagination.

I felt an odd burning on my cheek and heard Alice's gasp of surprise as she looked into my eyes. A single venom tear made its way down my cheek, leaving a faint scar in its path, a fitting tribute. A vampire can cry but three or four times in an existence and I was glad to have one of mine be in memory of such a beautiful and talented young woman.

I helped Alice finish tying the remaining blooms onto the daisy chain she was leaving behind and we said our goodbyes.

Some people come into your lives and stay just a moment, but leave a lifetime of memories behind them.

A vampire's memory is forever, and we would never forget.

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Stephanie, aka Daddy's Little Cannibal

September 1990 - May 2009

Rest In Peace


End file.
